scrub
verb · noun · adjective
Simple meaning
To rub hard.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skruhbIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɹʌb
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To rub hard; to wash with rubbing; usually, to rub with a wet brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning or brightening
intransitive
To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour
transitive
To call off a scheduled event; to cancel.
intransitivefiguratively
To be diligent and penurious
noun
One who scrubs.
uncountable
Vegetation judged to be of inferior quality or of little use to humans, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush.
An instance of scrubbing.
A worn-out brush.
by extensionin the plural
Any medical uniform consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and pants (trousers).
uncountable
A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant.
adjective
Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To rub hard; to wash with rubbing; usually, to rub with a wet brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning or brightening
Used this way, scrub is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use scrub
- “Surgeons must scrub prior to an operation.”verb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Protective garment worn by surgeons during operations.
The act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water.
A worker who uses a scrub brush to clean a surface (usually a floor or deck).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large-footed short-winged birds of Australasia.
A nurse who helps a surgeon prepare for surgery.
Any of various chiefly American small shrubby oaks often a dominant form on thin dry soils sometimes forming dense thickets.
Small hardy clump-forming spiny palm of southern United States.
Common small shrubby pine of the eastern United States having straggling often twisted or branches and short needles in bunches of 2.
A narrow woodworking plane used to cut away excess stock.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to rub hard
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “scrub” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.